HERAT (SW) – Officials in Herat say that about 800 people have tried to commit suicide in the province this year so far.
September 10 is the International Suicide Prevention Day. According to officials, twelve people have managed to commit suicide in Herat this year.
Officials at the Ministry of Public Health said that house-to-house surveys conducted in the country two years ago show that 7.25% of people think about suicide, 3.9% decide to commit suicide and 3.4% of them attempted suicide.
Basir Ahmad Sarwari, head of the Ministry’s mental health department, told Salam Watandar that this year, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the number of people who had attempted suicide had not been collected. According to him, last year, more than 7,065 people tried to commit suicide in the country, of which 558 lost their lives.
He added that a survey by the Ministry of Health showed that the highest suicide rates were recorded in the southern, southwestern and western provinces of the country.
Dr. Aref Jalali, chief physician of the Herat District Hospital, said in this connection that since the beginning of this year, 762 people have attempted suicide, of which 12, including three men, have lost their lives.
According to him, out of the 762 people, 170 were men and the rest were women. He added that 5 to 6 people try to commit suicide every day in this province.
Zarmina (pseudonym), 28, is a woman from Herat who tried to commit suicide, but did not lose her life. She said the reason for her attempt was forced marriage. She is the mother of an eight-year-old child. Zarmina has attempted suicide three times and has failed all three times.
Herat health officials say the majority of women have committed suicide by taking pills, chemical used for killing rats or by burning themselves.
According to Herat health officials, about 1,800 people tried to commit suicide in Herat last year, of whom 30, including 10 men, lost their lives.
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